The Washington Times reports that Russia is continuing to fly strategic nuclear bombers near U.S. and Canadian airspace. Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., commander of the U.S. Northern Command says its because the Russian military is seeking to maintain “the illusion of power,” according to the report.
Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., who took over U.S. Northern Command in May, said in an interview that beginning a couple of years ago, Russian strategic aviation forces began stepping up training flights of nuclear-capable Tu-95 Bear bombers near or through U.S. and Canadian airspace.
“In some cases, this is about the illusion of power, where power is not quite there,” said Adm. Winnefeld, commander of the Colorado Springs-based Northcom. “They are trying to show the world that they are a powerful nation, and we’re not giving them the satisfaction … .”
Adm. Winnefeld, who also heads the U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), said jet interceptors are not ordered to intercept all the Russian bomber flights. “If we intercept every single flight that comes out in our direction, then we’re really just feeding into their propaganda,” he said.
“So we intercept them when we feel like we ought to, and we have various criteria that we use for that, to include just rehearsing our own skills to be able to do that.”
In general, however, “we just leave them alone,” he said, noting that the Obama administration has “done a good job of trying to hit the reset button with these guys, and sooner or later they’ve got to respond.”
We better not underestimate what Russia’s intentions really are. We know they are still holding feelings against us. Our Armies are way to spread out and thin to hold them back right now and they know it.
I find it very hard to comprehend the head of NORAD going on ,”feeling”, to determine when to intercept a Russian bomber carrying nuclear war heads in our air space!!!
This do nothing policy is going to get many people killed and our nation in serious trouble. Our air space for their military should be off limits. Obama administration is showing a very weak stance- very dangerous!
The TU-95 Bear MS bomber is still Russia’s primary cruise missile carrier due to numbers (around 50) compared to the TU-160 Blackjack, whose numbers are around 16. The Bear can carry six KH-55 Raduga supersonic cruise missiles, said to have a range of 2,000 miles and can carry a 200 kiloton nuclear warhead. We currently have no defense against ground hugging cruise missiles, much less supersonic ones. Admiral Winnefeld is playing games with our national security, and should be relieved of his command. I don’t believe the average Russian wants to go to war with the U.S., any more than the average American wants to go to war with them. However, the “average Russian” is not in charge of Russia. Putin and his clone Medvedev are. His comment about Obama “has done a good job of trying to hit the reset button with these guys, and sooner or later they have to respond.” is sheer arrogance, and has gotten us in trouble in past wars and conflicts. This guy is a clown, and I wouldn’t put him in charge of a tanker, much less our national security. What has happened to our military?